A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max just made an emergency landing in Florida

Benjamin ZhangMar 27, 2019, 02:34 IST

Southwest Airlines

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max airliner made an emergency landing in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday.

According to the FAA, the pilots reported an engine issue.

The plane was being ferried to Victorville, California for desert storage.

No passengers were on board.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max airliner made an emergency landing in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday.

Southwest Airlines Flight 8701, a Boeing 737 Max 8, was en route from Orlando to Victorville, California when its pilots declared an emergency minutes after takeoff citing an engine problem, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to Business Insider.

The plane involved in the incident is one of 34 Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the Southwest Airlines fleet that had been grounded by an FAA emergency order earlier this month following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302.

The plane was headed for desert storage at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville. As a result, there were no passengers on board the flight.

No injuries have been reported.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 is powered by a pair of CFM International Leap 1B engines.

Here is the FAA's statement in its entirety:

"The crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 8701, a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, declared an emergency after the aircraft experienced a reported engine problem while departing from Orlando International Airport in Florida about 2:50 p.m. today. The aircraft returned and landed safely in Orlando. No passengers were aboard the aircraft, which was being ferried to Victorville, Calif., for storage. The FAA is investigating."